I am a political activist who has worked and lived in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This blog chronicles my time in Palestine and also provides news and analysis about Palestine and the situation on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Dear friends,Today, The Australian today published a hasbara (propaganda) article written by the Abbott government education minister Christopher Pyne slandering socialist students as
anti-semitic due to their role in leading pro-Palestine campaigning on
campus. In particularly he singles out Socialist Alternative, of which I am also a member. This article below published two weeks ago by Red Flag and
answers all the lies in Christopher Pyne's article in the Australian
today. It should also be noted that for more than two weeks, the Red
Flag website has come under concerted attack by Zionist hackers due to
Red Flag's uncompromising support for Palestine and opposition to
Israel's war crimes in Gaza. The website is currently back up online
but you can also support Red Flag by liking our page on Facebook and
subscribing to the paper (and get either a digital or hard copy of the
paper).However slanderous, Pyne's attack on Socialist Alternative is, it is unsurprising. Socialist Alternative in addition to playing a leading role in campaigning in support of Palestine on campus have also been active
in leading the campaign against Pyne and the Abbott government's attack
on education, which seeks to cut funding to universities and increase
fees for students.

In addition, Pyne, like the rest of the Abbott government, is an unabashed apologist for Israeli occupation, apartheid and war crimes. Pyne visited Israel at the height of Israel's
assault on Gaza, speaking at a number of forums where he actively
defended Israels right to carry out war crimes and mass murder in Gaza.The Australian's anti-Palestine
stance, including its active campaign against the Palestinian BDS
campaign and supporters of the campaign, has been well documented both
on this blog and elsewhere. For my earlier posts on The Australian's
campaign against BDS and pro-Palestine supporters see:

I have also published below an article written by Guy Rundle for Crikey in response to Pyne's slander in The Australian. Overall the article is very good, although Rundle gets one thing wrong. Socialist Alternative is very active in the campaign against Israeli war profiteer, Elbit Systems. Along with other community groups and individuals, members of Socialist Alternative are actively involved in organsing the community protest against Israeli war profiteer, Elbit Systems, which is taking place in Melbourne on October 5/6. (for more details on the protest, join the FB page for the protest).In solidarity, Kim

Over the past five weeks, as the Israeli military
pulverised the Gaza Strip, there have been widespread allegations of an
increase in anti-Semitic intimidation and violence on university
campuses. The allegations – widely circulated in print, on social media
and on commercial radio – include claims that Jewish students are being
racially abused, physically intimidated and banned from public lectures.
Socialist Alternative has been frequently named as responsible for
these acts.

For anyone familiar with socialist politics, which
includes at its core unyielding opposition to all forms of racial
discrimination, these claims must seem alarming and incongruous. In
fact, they are lies with no basis in fact. An explanation requires some
examination of the politics of Zionism and socialism on university
campuses.

*Socialist Alternative, Jews, and Zionism

Socialist Alternative is a Marxist organisation. Many of the thinkers
from which it draws influence, including Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky and
Rosa Luxemburg, were not only Jews, but Jews who lived in periods of
intense state-sanctioned anti-Semitic discrimination and pogroms.

Our movement seeks to fight against, and ultimately abolish forever,
all forms of racial oppression. In Australia, this requires active
struggle against the racist attacks on Aboriginal people, refugees, and
Muslims. It also requires solidarity with those who struggle
internationally against racism and oppression, such as the Tamils of Sri
Lanka and the Palestinians. Socialist Alternative student clubs often
have spearheaded these campaigns on university campuses and in wider
society. We seek to unite all struggles against oppression, break down
all divisions of race and sex, and help build movements that can
challenge the entire system that generates and perpetuates racism.

This requires a consistent and principled opposition to anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitism is not a major current in Australian politics, but it is
nonetheless a poisonous and vile doctrine that seeks to lay blame for
the world's ills on the characteristics of a single ethno-religious
group. We celebrate the long history of Jewish socialism and Jewish
anti-Zionism, and count many Jews among our members.

*Zionists on campus

There are many organised political currents competing for influence in
the political life of Australian campuses. The student wings of the
Labor, Liberal and Greens parties are all represented, as are other
equally political groups that are sometimes less honest about their
affiliation. In the latest controversies over anti-Semitism, they key
political group is the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS).

AUJS has a presence on over 20 university campuses in Australia and New
Zealand. It describes itself as the peak body representing Jewish
youth. AUJS spokespeople are frequently quoted in the press as
authorities on anti-Semitism. But AUJS is not an apolitical
organisation. As its website proudly proclaims, it exists to "promote a
positive image of Israel on campus". This mission becomes particularly
crucial during the Israeli military's assaults against Palestinians.

AUJS runs annual tours to Israel, which aim to give participants "a
stronger connection … to the state of Israel". AUJS's annual reports
boast of campaigns in solidarity with Israel’s military during Operation
Pillar of Cloud, a military assault that killed 100 Palestinian
civilians; they describe the movement for Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions against Israel as "our great political challenge". They call
for "settling the country as an expression of practical Zionism".

AUJS is not an organisation representing the interests of Jewish
students, but an advocacy group for the right wing politics of the state
of Israel. Its reports boast that pro-Palestine campaigners cannot host
an event on any campus "without running into an AUJS campaign". For
this reason, in 2012 the Zionist Federation of Australia sent AUJS a
letter of thanks and congratulations for "efforts in combating
anti-Zionism". The right wing politics of AUJS and its affiliates are
embodied in the person of Matthew Lesh. Lesh serves two prominent roles:
he is the political director for AUJS and an official spokesperson for
the Young Liberals.

AUJS accuses its enemies on campus of
conflating Zionism with Jewishness, and with turning criticism of Israel
into hostility to Jews. In fact, conflating Judaism and Zionism is
precisely the political goal of AUJS. Slandering supporters of Palestine
as anti-Semitic is its primary method for "combating anti-Zionism" and
fulfilling the project, outlined in the AUJS constitution, of "actively
advancing the interests of Israel".

*Operation Protective Edge

When Israel began its latest massacre in Gaza – which has so far led to
the slaughter of more than 1,900 civilians and the widespread
destruction of homes, schools, and hospitals – a political confrontation
between the supporters of Palestinian rights and the defenders of
Israeli militarism was inevitable.

At Monash University,
Socialist Alternative moved a motion in the Student Council, condemning
Israeli war crimes and occupation. Similar motions, including
endorsements of the BDS campaign, were taken up and adopted at the
Victorian College of the Arts, University of Sydney, Flinders
University, and Curtin University. A similar motion moved at La Trobe
University was voted down in a heated council meeting. Socialist
Alternative also organised and advertised meetings at campuses around
Australia, under titles along the lines of "Why You Should Support the
Palestinians".

The Israeli military massacre in Gaza was
catastrophic for the public image of Israel. Weekly protests against the
attack drew thousands of attendees in Melbourne and Sydney, hundreds in
other Australian cities, and millions around the world. We are proud
that Socialist Alternative's work contributed to this anti-racist and
anti-Zionist sentiment.

The initial response from AUJS took the
form of a series of press statements expressing concern that the
motions passed in student councils would "alienate Jewish students" and
contribute to anti-Semitism. This was a clear attempt to conflate
political opposition to Israeli policy with racial discrimination
against Jews. AUJS also created an absurd series of images, headlined
"What Would You Do?" of rockets being launched from one Australian
university campus to another. These images were spread on social media
and printed on posters, but rang rather hollow, especially after the
Israeli military bombed the main university in Gaza.

AUJS also
encouraged its members to file a flood of complaints describing the
pro-Palestine events as "anti-Semitic", while lobbying university vice
chancellors to ban pro-Palestine activism on campus. It managed to get
the vice chancellors of Monash and La Trobe universities to send emails
to all students implicitly attacking pro-Palestine activists, after what
AUJS called "strong AUJS advocacy". AUJS then commenced a campaign of
outrageous slander targeting activists at these two universities in
particular.

*The slanders

The two most startling
allegations were aired by Matthew Lesh on 3AW radio, and repeated by
Deakin University's Danny Ben-Moshe in an online article published by
The Conversation.

Lesh claims that Jewish students were
physically ejected from a public lecture at Monash University, and
subjected to a campaign of harassment and intimidation at La Trobe. Both
these claims are absolutely false.

The "lecture" at Monash
University was a Socialist Alternative political meeting. Not only were
Jews welcome and encouraged to attend, but the talk itself was given by a
Jewish member of Socialist Alternative. Attendees were asked to sign a
petition calling for an end to Israel's illegal economic blockade of
Gaza.

A small group of organised Zionists attempted to gain
entry after refusing to sign the petition, and attempted to disrupt the
meeting. They gave up after being told the meeting was for supporters of
Palestine. There is nothing unusual in this. Socialist Alternative has
in many previous instances barred disruptive right wingers who have
attempted to disrupt and air racist opinions at our meetings. Even if
you don’t agree with this policy, it has nothing whatsoever to do with
anti-Semitism. In this case, the meeting went ahead peacefully, with
Jewish students both delivering the initial talk and contributing to the
discussion afterwards.

Immediately afterwards, the Zionists
who had attempted to disrupt the meeting began a social media campaign
claiming that Jews had been banned from campus events. Socialist
Alternative members immediately contacted them to clarify that Jews were
welcome, but that the meeting was not for political defenders of
Israeli occupation. No retraction was issued and their campaign
continued, proving the utterly cynical use of allegations of
anti-Semitism to smear and undermine progressive politics on campus.

The events at La Trobe University followed the decision by the student
council to unanimously vote against a motion condemning the Israeli
assault on Gaza. As the student council is a democratically elected body
accountable to students, Socialist Alternative members produced posters
quoting several of the arguments used by the council members to justify
their vote – including "It's not our place to point at somebody and
say, 'You're committing mass murder'."

The posters did not
single out any council members on the basis of religion or ethnicity;
they simply quoted the arguments made in the meeting. The student
council, obviously fearful for its reputation, instructed security to
tear down the posters, and complaints of harassment and intimidation
were filed against Socialist Alternative members with the university
administration.

The right to host political meetings on campus,
and inform students of events that are taking place on their elected
leadership bodies, would seem like basic political rights that nobody
would contest. But because these rights, when exercised, could
contribute to the continued disintegration of Israel's public image,
AUJS kicked into overdrive. It launched an aggressive media campaign,
claiming that these events represented a wave of anti-Semitic abuse and
intimidation at Australian universities.

*Anti-Semitism and the responsibilities of the left

The ongoing genocide of the Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli
state naturally horrifies all those who oppose racism. The slanders
drawn up by organised Zionists are calculated to undermine this
sympathy, and to suggest that campaigning in solidarity with the
Palestinians is itself a form of racism. It is an attempt to isolate
Palestinians from their natural supporters among anti-racists and
supporters of human rights. It lays the groundwork for the intimidation
of activists who support Palestine, the banning of their meetings and
organisations, and the eradication of any criticism of Israel from
university life. Already, because of the AUJS campaign around La Trobe
University, activists have been forbidden from forming a "Students for
Palestine" club – because campaigning for Palestine is now considered,
scandalously, to be a form of "intimidation and harassment".

The death toll from the most recent Israeli attacks on Gaza is now
approaching 2,000. The Israeli war machine receives extensive political,
military, and diplomatic support from key institutions all around the
world. A principled opposition to racism requires participation in a
global movement in solidarity with the Palestinians. Socialist
Alternative is proud to have played a role in this movement in
Australia, and will continue to do so.

The attempt by the
political supporters of Israel to define all opposition to its policies
as forms of anti-Semitic intimidation and harassment is an outrageous
and shameful lie. To slander anti-racist activists, and to promote the
racist terror of the Israeli state, while claiming to be taking a stand
against racism is an act of utter cynicism.

The Left cannot bow
to this intimidation. It has a responsibility to continue raising a
voice in solidarity with the Palestinians, to make it clear that Jews
can oppose Zionism, and that institutions like AUJS that exist to defend
and promote Israeli militarism are not the authentic voice of all Jews.

[Daniel is a member of Jews Against Israeli Apartheid and Socialist Alternative.]

Education
Minister Christopher Pyne gave the campaign to abolish 18c another kick
in the guts this morning in The Australian -- although it was disguised
as an attack on alleged anti-Semitism on campuses.

The
principle target of the attack was Socialist Alternative, which is
among the groups leading the campaign against the massive fee hikes
proposed by the Abbott government. SAlt is also running protest
campaigns against Israel, which includes protests against the Max
Brenner cafe/chocolate chain, which provides free goody bags to the
Israel Defense Forces.

The
optics of the Brenner protest aren't great -- the chain consciously
imitates a Viennese-style coffee shop, so protesting outside it has ugly
associations (which is part of SAlt's recruitment strategy -- those who
quail at the complexity of that aren't cadre material. Hence the
Brenner protests, rather than a more concentrated attack on the offices
of Israeli arms exporters in Australia).

But
anti-Semitic they ain't. Neither is the boycott divestment, and
sanctions (BDS) campaign, which Pyne thinks should be excluded from
universities by administrators. Quite aside from the fact that many of
the people running BDS campaigns are Jews themselves -- and not only
secular-Left Jews, but the increasingly vocal Hasidic groups, who have
been anti-Zionist for more than a century -- Pyne's stance suggests a
curious attitude to free speech.

The
whole idea of the university is as a place of free thought, where both
students and faculty should be protected from sanction simply for
expressing unpopular ideas. This idea is central to a free society. To
try and impose a range of "acceptable" free speech on a university from
without is simply a misunderstanding of what the university is. Pyne is
simply adopting the "no platform" argument of a section of the Left as
regards universities and applying it to a spurious "anti-Semitism".
Given that it was opposition by Australian-Jewish groups to changes to
18c that pretty much killed it, it's difficult not to conclude that the
real target of this piece -- with its concluding paean to collectivist
multiculturalism -- is the IPA and their renewed 18c target.

Such
an approach to choking free speech at universities -- which is, in
effect, the state choking off free speech -- is part of the new normal:
that the greatest enemy of free speech now is the Abbott government,
with its "Team Australia" rhetoric, its use of multicultural agents to
treat inconvenient speech -- i.e. violent Islamism -- as a bacillus to
be "deradicalised", etc. It's a chilling process -- one I'm sure the IPA
will attack vociferously and stand up for the right of people to urge
jihad. Hello? Hello?

Still,
those in favour of 18C will be relieved to see that its friends now
include the Abbott government. That is hegemonic victory, by any
measure.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

As
I noted last night, while a ceasefire had been announced the details of
the deal were still trickling through and there was some skepticism as
to whether the siege would be lifted. Reading the outline of
the deal provided by Reuters, it seems the siege is only partially
lifted - meaning that in effect it is still in place, at least on the
Israeli side as Israel still controls the land, sea and air borders.
However, there will be an easing of restrictions on the Israeli side to
allow humanitarian aid through. Egypt in a separate deal has
agreed apparently to open its borders but there appears to be still
restrictions on "dual use" goods (ie. lots of electrical and other
building goods, which are deemed as weaponisable). So while it
is good that there has been an easing of restrictions, we also need to
realise that it means that Israel (and Egypt to a lesser extent) can
shut the borders down any time they feel like it and prevent much need
goods entering the region. It also means that Gaza remains under
occupation and that that freedom of movement for Palestinians and goods
will still remains restricted and under heavy Israeli control.

The Guardian has similarly noted that the terms of the deal seem to be similar to that of the ceasefire deal in 2012 which only saw an easing of the siege, not an ending of it.in solidarity, Kim **What's in the Gaza peace deal?By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Luke BakerGAZA/JERUSALEMTue Aug 26, 2014

(Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinians agreed on Tuesday to an
Egyptian-brokered plan to end the fighting in Gaza after 50 days of
combat in which more than 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, 64
Israeli soldiers and five civilians in Israel were killed.
Following are the broad
parameters of the agreement, which Israeli and Palestinian negotiators
have been working on through indirect talks in Cairo over recent weeks.

As
part of the deal, both sides have agreed to address more complex issues
dividing them - including the release of Palestinian prisoners and
Gaza's demands for a sea port - via further indirect talks starting
within a month.

IMMEDIATE STEPS

* Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza agree to halt all rocket and mortar fire into Israel.

* Israel will stop all military action including air strikes and ground operations.

*
Israel agrees to open more of its border crossings with Gaza to allow
the easier flow of goods, including humanitarian aid and reconstruction
equipment, into the coastal enclave.

* In a separate, bilateral agreement, Egypt will agree to open its 14 km (8 mile) border with Gaza at Rafah.

*
The Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, is
expected to take over responsibility for administering Gaza's borders
from Hamas. Israel and Egypt hope it will ensure weapons, ammunition and
any "dual-use" goods are prevented from flowing into Gaza.

*
The Palestinian Authority will lead in coordinating the reconstruction
effort in Gaza with international donors, including the European Union.

*
Israel is expected to narrow the security buffer along the inside of
the Gaza border, reducing it from 300 meters to 100 meters if the truce
holds. The move will allow Palestinians more access to farm land close
to the border.

* Israel will
extend the fishing limit off Gaza's coast to six miles from three miles,
with the possibility of widening it gradually if the truce holds.
Ultimately, the Palestinians want to return to a full 12-mile
international allowance.

LONGER TERM ISSUES TO BE DISCUSSED

*
Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners rounded
up in the West Bank following the abduction and killing of three Jewish
seminary students in June, an attack that led to the war. Hamas
initially denied involvement in the killings, but a senior Hamas
official in exile in Turkey last week admitted the group did carry out
the attack.

* President Abbas, who
heads the Fatah party, wants freedom for long-serving Palestinian
prisoners whose release was dropped after the collapse of peace talks
between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

*
Israel wants Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza to hand over all
body parts and personal effects of Israeli soldiers killed during the
war.

* Hamas wants a sea port built
in Gaza, allowing goods and people to be ferried in and out of the
enclave. Israel has long rejected the plans, but it is possible that
progress towards it could be made if there are absolute security
guarantees.

* Hamas wants the
un-freezing of funds to allow it to pay 40,000 police, government
workers and other administrative staff who have largely been without
salaries since late last year.

*
The Palestinians also want the airport in Gaza - Yasser Arafat
International, which opened in 1998 but was shut down in 2000 after it
was bombed by Israel - to be rebuilt.

Terms of indefinite ceasefire – brokered by Egypt – expected to be similar to those agreed at the end of 2012 conflict

After 50 days of the
Gaza conflict, more than 2,100 people were killed, most of them
civilians, including about 500 children. Photograph: Majdi Fathi/Corbis

The war in Gaza ended on Tuesday after Israel
and the Palestinians agreed to halt fighting indefinitely, putting an
end to seven weeks of catastrophic loss of life and destruction, but on
terms which are likely to leave many on both sides of the conflict
wondering what had been achieved.Hamas and Islamic Jihad – the
main militant groups in Gaza – the Palestinian Authority and Israel
agreed on an open-ended ceasefire beginning at 7pm on Tuesday evening,
bringing relief to civilians on both sides of the border.Rocket
fire and airstrikes continued until the last moments, and sirens sounded
across southern Israel past 7pm. One Israeli was killed and several
injured by a mortar shortly before the deadline, the Israel Defence
Forces said. In Gaza, two children were killed in an airstrike in Khan
Younis shortly before the ceasefire, and police reported that an Israeli
airstrike flattened a seven-storey building in Beit Lahiya, the sixth
high-rise to be toppled since the weekend.As the ceasefire came
into effect, Gaza echoed with celebratory gunfire and mosques announced
victory through their loudspeakers. Tens of thousands of people took to
the streets in response to text messages sent by Hamas urging victory
celebrations.But the terms of the deal – brokered by the Egyptian
government, and reached on the 50th day of the conflict – appeared to
be almost identical to those agreed at the end of the previous war 21 months ago.
Israel will open crossings on its border to allow the humanitarian aid
and construction materials to enter Gaza, and will extend the permitted
fishing zone to six miles off the coast of Gaza. The Rafah border
crossing between Gaza and Egypt is also to be opened.More difficult issues will be deferred for further indirect talks between the two parties in a month. They include Hamas's demands for an airport and seaport in Gaza
and the release of Palestinian prisoners, and Israel's insistence on
the disarmament of militant groups and the return of the remains of two
of its soldiers killed in the fighting.In a televised address,
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas thanked the Egyptians, Qataris and
US secretary of state John Kerry for their efforts to secure a
ceasefire. He added: "The question is now 'What's next?' Gaza suffered
three wars and are we expecting another one? We will consult friends and
the international community, and we can't continue with 'cloudy
negotiations'."At a press conference at the Shifa hospital in
Gaza City, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said: "Hamas is grateful to
the people of Gaza who sacrificed their homes, children and money. We
announce the victory today after achieving our goals."He added:
"[Israeli prime minister Binyamin] Netanyahu has failed to force Gaza to
surrender. Yes, we defeated them by our standing and our resistance. We
will stand by our people and we won't leave them."Israel
accepted the ceasefire, although three cabinet members, including the
hardline foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, voiced opposition,
according to Israeli media. A government official said: "Israel has
accepted an Egyptian proposal for a complete and unlimited-in-time
ceasefire. Israel accepted already the Egyptian proposal on 15 July.
Israel has always supported an unconditional, open-ended ceasefire."A
US state department spokeswoman said: "We call on all parties to fully
and completely comply with its terms, and hope very much that the
ceasefire will prove to be durable and sustainable. We view this as an
opportunity, not a certainty. There is a long road ahead and we're aware
of that, and we're going into this eyes wide open."The deal
follows at least eight temporary ceasefires during the course of the
conflict. In Gaza, more than 2,100 people have been killed, most of them
civilians, including about 500 children, in the past seven weeks. At
least 11,000 people were injured and more than 17,000 homes destroyed or
badly damaged. Around a third of Gaza's 1.8 million population has been
displaced, many now living in United Nations shelters. Schools,
hospitals, factories, farms, mosques and infrastructure such as power
and water plants were hit. Reconstruction could take up to 10 years, say
analysts. On the Israeli side, 64 soldiers died and five civilians –
including a four-year-old boy – were killed. Hundreds of families
relocated from homes near the Gaza border to safer areas further north.The
Israeli military estimates that the weapons stocks of Hamas and other
militant groups have fallen to less than a third of their pre-war
levels, by being fired or destroyed in airstrikes.Three of
Hamas's top military commanders were killed last week, and the fate of
its military chief , is still unknown after his wife and two children
were killed in a massive airstrike last Tuesday. However the
organisation claims to have won respect among Palestinians for putting
up strong resistance against Israel's military onslaught.Israeli
leaders are expected to claim to have severely weakened Hamas over the
past seven weeks, and restored "quiet" to areas within rocket range.Egypt
will hope to gain international credibility from brokering a ceasefire
agreement after weeks of abortive talks hosted in Cairo.The Gaza
conflict began on 8 July following weeks of tension after the abduction
and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, and the
subsequent revenge killing of a Palestinian youth. Israel responded with
a wave of arrests of Hamas members, which triggered intensified rocket
fire from Gaza.

Dear friends,A long term ceasefire has been announced by both Abbas and the Hamas leadership. The Israeli media is also reporting Israel's acceptance of the ceasefire.According to media reports the deal supposedly includes:

an immediate easing of the Israeli
blockade of Gaza, and a gradual lifting of restrictions on fishing off
the coast of the strip.

discussions on the creation of a seaport and airport was postponed
for a month, when indirect talks betwen Israel and Palestinians will
resume.

While details are still emerging and need to be confirmed, some on
twitter such as Israeli activist and writer Mairav Zonszein have argued
"There is no deal, only an agreed-upon ceasefire and mutual intentions
to discuss a deal in the future".Monday
marked the 50th day since Israel started its massacre in Gaza on July
8. The death toll at that time had reached 2,120, of which 577 are children,
according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.In solidarity, Kim

Dear friends, Well known Canadian film maker and political activist, John Greyson provides us with another clever film in support of Palestine - imagining the bombing of Toronto as if it were Gaza. Greyson is a well regarded film director in his own right and has long been active in Palestine solidarity work. He participated in the 2011 Gaza flotilla and in 2013 while on his way to join the Gaza with Dr Tarek Toubani to carry out medical relief work, they were jailed and tortured by the Egyptian regime for 7 weeks. I have included below his video, along with the article about it which appeared on Electronic Intifada. in solidarity, Kim **

In his compelling new video Gazonto, Canadian filmmaker John Greyson
reimagines Israel’s massive bombardment of the Israeli-occupied and
besieged Gaza Strip as if it were an attack on his home city Toronto.

Greyson imagines specific attacks on Palestinian homes, schools,
mosques, hospitals and other institutions that Israel perpetrated since 7
July as if they had occurred on real-life Toronto sites including a
well-known café, CBC TV, the University of Toronto and the Scarborough
Injury Rehab Centre.The film uses the device of a simulated video game to show how the
horrifying effects of Israeli violence against Palestinians are rendered
distant or invisible while the violence itself is celebrated.The “video game” wherein the viewer is addressed as if they are the
“player” also forces us to think about complicity and what those of us
in Canada, the United States and other countries arming and supporting
Israel can do to end such lethal intervention.Gazonto asks viewers a simple question: what would happen to
Toronto, or to your city, if, like Gaza, six thousand places had been
heavily bombed in just a few weeks?

Obliterated

Since Israel’s bombardment began, its attacks have killed 2,127 Palestinians, including 512 children, according to the latest count from Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.On Saturday, Israeli warplanes completely obliterated a 12-story apartment building “without giving any specific explanation that can be verified,” Al Mezan said.“Al Mezan’s investigations indicate that no military activities took
place in or around it. Hundreds of its residents, most of whom are
families headed by employees of the Palestinian Authority, were
displaced,” Al Mezan added.Israeli occupation forces “also destroyed a large shopping mall in
Rafah and caused damages to dozens of homes in the Rafah refugee camp,”
according to the group.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Dear friends,yet another study and article on the increasing racism amongst Jewish citizens of Israel. Anyone following reports on Israel and Palestine will be aware of not only repeated studies revealing the increasing and rampant racism inside Israel but also the visible displays of racism against not against Palestinian citizens of Israel, Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Arabs in general but also African asylum seekers in Israel. Repeated studies conducted by reputable Israeli organisations have also repeatedly identified significant racism against Jewish citizens of Israel who are not Ashkenazi (European/white) Jews. (Studies on Israel's racism: 2011, 2012, 2012, 2013, 2014 Also see David Sheen's website documenting racism in Israel, click here)In recent weeks, we have seen the repeated public spectacle of Zionist Jews in Israel marching through the streets calling for "Death to the Arabs" and "Death to Leftists". As one of the students notes in this article: “If we’re not racist, that makes us leftists.”

Studies have also repeatedly shown that the text books used in Israeli schools promote racism against Palestinians, depicting them negatively as murders, rioters, suspicious etc. A 1999 study of 124 Israeli text books on grammar, Hebrew Literature, history, geography and citizenship for elementary, middle school and high school found that the text books

"present[ed] the view that Jews are involved in a
justified, even humanitarian, war against an Arab enemy that refuses to
accept and acknowledge the existence and rights of Jews in Israel.

“The early textbooks tended to describe acts of Arabs as hostile,
deviant, cruel, immoral, unfair, with the intention to hurt Jews and to
annihilate the State of Israel. Within this frame of reference, Arabs
were delegitimized by the use of such labels as ”˜robbers,’
”˜bloodthirsty,’ and ”˜killers,’” said Professor Bar-Tal, adding that
there has been little positive revision in the curriculum over the
years.

A more recent study by Nurit Peled-Elhanan shows that little had changed in the decade after the previous study. Peled-Elhanan notes Israeli school books never refer to Palestinians unless in the context of terrorism. In an interview with the Guardian, the Israeli academic notes that Palestinians are always called "Arabs" and that:

"The Arab with a camel, in an
Ali Baba dress. They describe them as vile and deviant and criminal,
people who don't pay taxes, people who live off the state, people who
don't want to develop," she says. "The only representation is as
refugees, primitive farmers and terrorists. You never see a Palestinian
child or doctor or teacher or engineer or modern farmer."

While this Haaretz article is well worth reading and the study worth noting, both the study and article fail to address the origins of racism in Israel - ie. Zionism. Zionism is a settler-colonial ideology and as such is inherently racist. It can not be anything but. Zionism promotes an exclusivist state which privileges one ethnic group over another. It is therefore in compatible with the liberal idea of democracy, something which is ignored by the academics conducting this study. In solidarity, Kim***

Ethnic hatred has become a basic element in the everyday life of Israeli youth, a forthcoming book finds.

Members of right-wing
organization Lehava protesting the wedding of a Jewish-born woman and a
Muslim man in Rishon Letzion, August 17, 2014. Photo by Ofer Vaknin

Authors Idan Yaron (right) and Yoram Harpaz.Photo by Emil Salman

“For me, personally, Arabs are something I can’t look at
and can’t stand,” a 10th-grade girl from a high school in the central
part of the country says in abominable Hebrew. “I am tremendously
racist. I come from a racist home. If I get the chance in the army to
shoot one of them, I won’t think twice. I’m ready to kill someone with
my hands, and it’s an Arab. In my education I learned that ... their
education is to be terrorists, and there is no belief in them. I live in
an area of Arabs, and every day I see these Ishmaelites, who pass by
the [bus] station and whistle. I wish them death.”
The student’s comments
appear in a chapter devoted to ethnicity and racism among youth from a
forthcoming book, “Scenes from School Life” (in Hebrew) by Idan Yaron
and Yoram Harpaz. The book is based on anthropological observations made
by Dr. Yaron, a sociologist, over the course of three years in a
six-year, secular high school in the Israeli heartland – “the most
average school we could find,” says Harpaz, a professor of education. The
book is nothing short of a page-turner, especially now, following the
overt displays of racism and hatred of the Other that have been revealed
in the country in the past month or so. Maybe “revealed” isn’t the
right word, as it suggests surprise at the intensity of the phenomenon.
But Yaron’s descriptions of what he saw at the school show that such
hatred is a basic everyday element among youth, and a key component of
their identity. Yaron portrays the hatred without rose-colored glasses
or any attempt to present it as a sign of social “unity.” What he
observed is unfiltered hatred. One conclusion that arises from the text
is how little the education system is able – or wants – to deal with the
racism problem.

Not
all educators are indifferent or ineffective. There are, of course,
teachers and others in the realm of education who adopt a different
approach, who dare to try and take on the system. But they are a
minority. The system’s internal logic operates differently. Much
of the chapter on racism revolves around the Bible lessons in a
ninth-grade class, whose theme was revenge. “The class starts, and the
students’ suggestions of examples of revenge are written on the
blackboard,” the teacher told Yaron. A student named Yoav “insists that
revenge is an important emotion. He utilizes the material being studied
to hammer home his semi-covert message: All the Arabs should be killed.
The class goes into an uproar. Five students agree with Yoav and say
openly: The Arabs should be killed.” One
student relates that he heard in the synagogue on Shabbat that “Aravim
zeh erev rav” [“Arabs are a rabble,” in a play on words], and also
Amalek, and there is a commandment to kill them all,” a reference to the
prototypical biblical enemy of the Children of Israel. Another student
says he would take revenge on anyone who murdered his family, but would
not kill them all. “Some
of the other students are outraged by this [softer stance],” the
teacher reported. “The student then makes it clear that he has no love
for Arabs and that he is not a leftist.” Another
student, Michal, says she is shocked by what she is hearing. She
believes that the desire for revenge will only foment a cycle of blood;
not all Arabs are bad, she adds, and certainly they don’t all deserve to
die. “People who decree the fate of others so easily are not worthy of
life,” she says. Yoav himself claims to have heard Michal say: “Too bad you weren’t killed in a terrorist attack.” “The
students all start shouting,” the teacher says, according to Yaron.
“Some are personally insulted, others are up in arms, and Michal finds
herself alone and absorbing all the fire – ‘Arab lover,’ ‘leftist.’ I
try to calm things down. The class is too distraught to move on to the
biblical story. The bell rings. I let them out and suggest that they be
more tolerant of one another.” In
the corridor during the break, the teacher notices that a crowd has
gathered from all the ninth-grade classes. They have formed a human
chain and are taunting Michal: “Fie, fie, fie, the Arabs will die.” The
teacher: “I contemplated for five seconds whether to respond or keep
going down the corridor. Finally I dispersed the gathering and insisted
that Michal accompany me to the teachers’ room. She was in a state of
shock, reeling under the insult, with tears to come instantly.” Six
students are suspended for two days. The teacher reports on his
conversation with Michal: “She continues to be laconic. This is what
always happens, she says. The opinions are racist, and her only regret
is speaking out. I just want to hug her and say I’m sorry I put her
through this trauma. I envy her courage to say aloud things that I
sometimes am incapable of saying.” Leftists as ‘Israel-haters’In
his research, Yaron spoke with Michal and Yoav, with other students in
the class and with the homeroom teacher and the principal. The
multiplicity of versions of the goings-on that emerge suggest a deep
conflict and a lack of trust between the educators and the pupils. Each
world functions separately, with the adults exercising little if any
influence on the youngsters. It’s hard to believe that the suspension,
or the punishment inflicted on some of the students – for example, to
prepare a presentation for the ninth-grade classes on the subject of
racism – changed anyone’s opinion. The
same goes for the principal’s unequivocal declaration that, “There will
be no racist comments in our school.” Even the essay Michal was asked
to write on the subject was soon forgotten. “The intention was to launch
an educational program, but in the meantime it was postponed,” the
homeroom teacher admits. A
year later, however, the incident itself was still remembered in the
school. The same student who told Yaron that she won’t think twice if
she gets the opportunity “to shoot one of them” when she serves in the
army, also said, “As soon as I heard about the quarrel with that leftist
girl [Michal], I was ready to throw a brick at her head and kill her.
In my opinion, all the leftists are Israel-haters. I personally find it
very painful. Those people have no place in our country – both the Arabs
and the leftists.” Anyone
who imagines this as a local, passing outburst is wrong. As was the
case with the girl from the ORT network vocational school who alleged
earlier this year that her teacher had expressed “left-wing views” in
the classroom – in this case too a student related that he cursed and
shouted at a teacher who “justified the Arabs.” The students say that
workshops to combat racism, which are run by an outside organization,
leave little impression. “Racism is part of our life, no matter how much
people say it’s bad,” a student said. In
the concluding discussion in just one such workshop, the moderator
asked the students how they thought racism might eradicated. “Thin out
the Arabs,” was the immediate reply. “I want you to leave here with the
knowledge that the phenomenon exists, for you to be self-critical, and
then maybe you will prevent it,” the moderator said. To which one
student shot back, “If we’re not racist, that makes us leftists.” The
moderator, in a tone of despair: “I’d like it if you took at least
something small from this workshop.” A student responds to the
challenge: “That everyone should live the way he wants, that if he
thinks he’s racist, let him think what he wants, and that’s all.” As
an adjunct of racism and hatred, ethnic identities – Mizrahi (Jews from
Middle Eastern and North African countries) and Ashkenazi – are also
flourishing. Yoav believes that there is “discrimination between
Mizrahim and Ashkenazim. We were severely punished for the incident
[with Michal], but if it were the other way around, that wouldn’t have
happened.” Yoav later told Yaron that he found the common saying,
“What’s this, an [open-air] market?” offensive, because his whole family
works in the local produce market. “Our
business has existed since the state was established,” he said. “I am
proud of my father, who is a man of the market. What are they trying to
say, that my father isn’t cultured? When people say something about
‘Arabs,’ it’s considered a generalization, but when they say ‘market,’
that’s alright. When people say ‘market,’ they are actually talking
about Mizrahim. We need to change the prejudices about the market and
about the Mizrahim. People say I am a racist, but it’s just the
opposite.” “There
is no discussion about the topic of racism in the school and there
probably will not be,” the principal admits. “We are not prepared for
the deep, long-term process that’s necessary. Even though I am
constantly aware of the problem, it is far from being dealt with. It
stems in the first place from the home, the community and the society,
and it’s hard for us to cope with it. You have to remember that another
reason it’s hard to deal with the problem is that it also exists among
the teachers. Issues such as ‘human dignity’ or ‘humanism’ are in any
case considered left-wing, and anyone who addresses them is considered
tainted.” Threat of noiseProf.
Yoram Harpaz is a senior lecturer at Beit Berl Teachers College and the
editor of Hed Hahinuch, a major educational journal. Recalling the
recent promise of Education Minister Shay Piron that classes in the
first two weeks of the coming school year will be devoted to “emotional
and social aspects of the summer’s events,” including “manifestations of
racism and incitement,” Harpaz observes that schools in their present
format “are incapable of dealing with the racist personality and
identity.” He
adds: “The schools are not geared for this. They can only impart basic
knowledge and skills, hold examinations on them and grade the students.
In fact, they have a hard time doing even that. In classes of 40
students, with a strict curriculum and exams that have to be held, it is
impossible to engage in values-based education.” Yaron,
a senior lecturer in sociology at Ashkelon Academic College, emphasizes
how important teachers and the principal (and the education system in
general) feel it is to stick to the curriculum and the lessons schedule –
two islands of quiet amid a risk-laden reality. “Doing
this makes it possible for the teachers not to enter a dynamic sphere,
which obligates openness and is liable to open a Pandora’s box, too,” he
notes. “The greatest threat to the teacher is that there will be noise –
that someone will complain, that an argument will break out, etc. That
danger looms especially large in subjects that interest young people,
such as sexuality, ethnicity, violence and racism. Teachers lack the
tools to cope with these issues, so they are outsourced, which only
emasculates educational personnel even more.” The
demand for quiet in the schools is not only an instrumental matter,
deriving from the difficulty of keeping order in the classroom. There is
also an ideological aspect involved. In general, there is a whole
series of subjects that are not recommended for discussion in schools,
such as the Nakba (or “catastrophe,” the term used by Palestinians to
denote the establishment of the State of Israel), human rights and the
morality of Israeli army operations. This was one of the reasons for the
warnings issued by Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev during the fighting in the Gaza Strip about “extreme and
offensive remarks.” Harpaz:
“In Israel, the most political country there is, political education
has not been developed as a discipline in which high-school students are
taught how to think critically about political attitudes, or the fact
that those attitudes are always dependent on a particular viewpoint and
on vested interests.” What,
then, can be done? According to Harpaz, the solution will not be found
in discussions between the homeroom teacher and the students. Nor is a
condemnation, however late, by the education minister sufficient. A more
radical change is needed. “Values
and outlooks are acquired in a lengthy process of identification with
‘significant others,’ such as teachers,” Harpaz explains. “This means
that every aspect of the schools – patterns of teaching, evaluation
methods, curricula, the physical structure and the cultural climate –
has to change in the direction of becoming far more dialogical and
democratic.” And
he has one more recommendation: not to flee from political and moral
dilemmas, or from possible criticism. “Our leaders are so fearful of
criticism, but they don’t understand that critical education is what
generates close ties and caring. We get angry at those we love.”

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Dear friends,as I have mentioned before one of the reasons I became active in the Palestine solidarity activism is because of my own personal history - I saw the similarities between the
Indigenous struggle of the Palestinian people and the struggle of
Indigenous Australians. Coming from a family of mixed heritage (my
mother is Aboriginal and my father comes from a mixed European
background), my first engagement with political activism was around
Aboriginal and Indigenous rights and the struggle for land rights and
justice in this country.

Aboriginal Australians have
been no different from the Palestinians in fighting back against ethnic
cleansing and settler-colonisation. Our people carried out an extensive armed resistance to European settler colonialism. This
resistance began the moment Cook set foot on Australian soil in 1770 –
the Gweagal people attacked Cook’s landing party with spears and
woomeras. From that moment on Aboriginal resistance never ceased (for my earlier blogs on this, click here)This resistance to European settler-colonialism in Australia is known as "The Frontier Wars". The period was largely ignored historically until Australian historian, Henry Reynolds wrote about it in 1981.Today, First Dog on the Moon (Andrew Marlton), who is an Australian Walkley Award winning political cartoonist and satirist published a cartoon addressing the Frontier Wars in Australia and the hypocrisy of the Australian Abbott government (it should be noted that the Labor govts have also been completely hypocritical in relation to this as well). The cartoon is very poignant, moving me to to tears.First Dog's cartoon about the Frontier Wars is not only about the resistance by Aboriginal Australia to European settler-colonialism but it is also about the whitewashing of that history by repeated Australian governments. I have been a big fan of First Dog on the Moon for sometime. Recently, during the assault on Gaza, First Dog also published a cartoon ridiculing the Israeli government's propaganda about its settler-colonial attacks and war crimes in Gaza. I posted a copy of the cartoon on my Red Butterfly Effect blog (click here) but I will also post it again below. First Dog's (Andrew Marlton's) cartoons appear regularly in The Guardian.

Dear friends,after the inspiring action by activists in Melbourne against Israeli war profiteer, Elbit Systems (see my previous post), a community protest and picket is being organised for October. Please find the details below.in solidarity, Kim

Dear friends,just a quick post to let you know that my access to the internet for the last week has been extremely limited, as a result I have not been able to post much at to Live from Occupied Palestine. This will unfortunately be the case for the coming week as well.

I will be posting information articles up to the Live from Occupied Palestine Facebook page, when I do have internet access. However, my posts to the blog will be intermittent during this period but I will endeavour to post when I can.Things should be back to normal, however, by the end of next week (29/30 August).Thank you once again for your continued support! In solidarity, Kim

Nakba Keys

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About Me

I am an activist who, at different times over several years, has lived and worked as a international volunteer in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This blog is an account of my time in Palestine and also carries original news, comment and analysis (as well as reprints) on Palestine. Live from Occupied Palestine campaigns for an end to Israeli apartheid and the brutal illegal occupation of the Palestinian people. You are welcome to reprint any material from this blog authored by Kim, however, please acknowledge the author and the blog website